Thank God, the NBA lockout is over. Before tip-off this Christmas, Kevin Durant takes us to Oklahoma City for Nike’s Basketball Never Stops ad featuring music from Sam Cooke and a brief cameo from J.Cole.
Showing posts with label Nike basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nike basketball. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Kevin Durant & J.Cole Nike Promo
Thank God, the NBA lockout is over. Before tip-off this Christmas, Kevin Durant takes us to Oklahoma City for Nike’s Basketball Never Stops ad featuring music from Sam Cooke and a brief cameo from J.Cole.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Vado’s Team Nike Ad
Nike Sportswear announces the release of a six-episode video series as part of its “Always On,” campaign, which highlights the lifestyles of select Nike athletes. Each video is coupled with an original song from an emerging recording artist with ties to sports. These music videos highlight their diverse stories – on and off-court, in and out of the studio, in all aspects of their daily lives.
The music video series also showcases athletes such as Lamar Odom, whose video features an original track by burgeoning Ohio rapper Stalley. Budding Canadian rapper Saukerates lends his original track to hockey player, PK Subban’s video portrait.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
SONNY VACCARO "Nobody Promised Me Tomorrow"
If you can believe it, the players in the National Basketball Association weren’t always walking billboards for sneaker companies. Once upon a time, players didn’t have sneaker contracts. There were no sneaker commercials. And Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Converse and every other footwear company on the planet weren’t shelling out millions of dollars every year to get their logos out into the world. Outside of a couple of signature sneakers, it was, more or less, a completely untapped market.
About 30 years ago, all of that changed thanks to the tireless efforts of marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro, now 71, who helped create a culture around sneakers that turned some superstar athletes—and even just star athletes—into high-profile celebrities with million-dollar endorsement deals. That’s not all that Sonny’s done, though. Over the course of his career, he’s also changed the culture surrounding high school basketball by holding all-star games that have helped put the spotlight on everyone from Shaquille O’Neal to LeBron James and become one of the go-to guys for basketball commentary.
As a result of all of that, a new HBO flick, ABCD Camp, starring The Sopranos actor James Gandolfini as Vaccaro, is scheduled hit the small screen sometime later this year. But before it does, we decided to take a look at the 10 ways Vaccaro has changed the game of basketball. It’s time to pay your respects to the “Grassroots Godfather.”
He signed Michael Jordan to his first sneaker contract.
This list could start and end here and we’re pretty sure you’d understand just how important Vaccaro was to the game of basketball. As a marketing executive at Nike, Vaccaro helped ink His Airness to his first endorsement deal. Safe to say, that turned out pretty well for everyone involved.
He started the first national high school basketball game.
Before the birth of the Internet, there wasn’t a really reliable way to keep tabs on the level of talent that existed in high school basketball. Enter The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, which Vaccaro created back in 1965. It lasted for more than 40 years and featured players like Shaq, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Patrick Ewing and more. For the first time ever, hoops fans could check out the best of the best in the high school ranks every year. It also helped birth some of today’s high school showcases like the Jordan Classic.
He founded the elite ABCD Camp.
Just about every city in America has a basketball camp in the summer. How then, Vacarro thought back in the early 1980s, could elite players get exposure for themselves, if every Joe, John and Jim across the country was crowding into summer camps? The answer was Vaccaro’s ABCD Camp, which he created in 1984 to help elite players get exposure. And players like LeBron James, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant rushed to his camps in order to get it. Though Vaccaro closed up shop back in 2007, other similar camps like the LeBron James Skill Academy, which—not coincidentally hosted by Nike—has taken its place and continued the mission.
He got all of the major sneaker companies involved with his camp.
Want to know why just about every basketball camp that’s worth a lick these days is sponsored by a major sneaker company? Look no further than the aforementioned ABCD Camp, which was always sponsored by one of the big sneakers companies (see: Nike, Adidas, Converse or Reebok). These companies used their power and influence over the camp to help get their name out and drill their names and logos into the brains of players who could possibly sign endorsement deals with them later. In other words, the ABCD Camp made basketball camps big business.
He made summer leagues count for something.
Many years ago, high school basketball was played from November through March—and then put on the shelf until the following November. Vaccaro and others like him saw the opportunity for summer ball to make a real difference for many players. So while he was busy running his ABCD Camp, others ran similar camps and summer leagues during the offseason. This helped players improve dramatically and also made college and pro ball more popular than ever as well as people started to connect with players long before they reached the NBA.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
NBA Lockout Would Put $1B in TV Ad Revenue at Stake
Also in Danger: Chunk of $2.7B Licensed Products Market...
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Halfway through the 2010-11 National Basketball Association season, it's already been one of the finest in league history by almost every metric -- and that's just one more reason why a potential lockout and protracted labor negotiation between the owners and the players will threaten far more than simply the bottom line of a financial statement.
Although the National Football League's potential labor dispute is more top of mind -- its collective bargaining agreement with players ends in six weeks -- the NBA is dealing with its own issues. While its current agreement with the players doesn't expire until June 30, both sides are trying to avoid a situation that some sports-marketing experts have termed "more dire" than the NFL labor conflict.
At stake? About $1 billion in TV ad revenue for Walt Disney Co.'s ABC/ESPN and Turner Broadcasting's TNT, the main rights holders for NBA games; sponsors and advertisers that are facing the possibility of a second potential sports-programming platform disappearing; a global stage that Nike (and, to a lesser extent, Reebok) uses to hawk shoes; a huge chunk of the $2.7 billion licensed products market, most of which Adidas makes and sells; and brand equity at a pivotal time for the league, both domestically and internationally.
And don't think it isn't real. Phoenix Suns player Jared Dudley recently tweeted: "If you are in the NBA: I need all NBA players to save there [sic] money. Be prepared to live without a check for at least a year. This is serious."
The NBA is as hot as it's been in years. The buzz began three months before the season even tipped off, when LeBron James announced on live TV last July during "The Decision" that he would be leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. The league reportedly had a record 50,000 new season-ticket requests. The buzz has continued through the first half of the season with the potential for an NBA Finals between Mr. James and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant -- by far the two most marketable players in the league -- as well as the resurgence of big-market teams such as the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls and the emergence of young stars such as Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and John Wall of the Washington Wizards.
Attendance at games is flat, down 1% compared to last year, but TV ratings on ESPN and TNT are up a whopping 30%. Advertisers and sponsors have noticed the resurgent fan interest.
The two sponsors that stand to lose the most are the newest ones -- Spanish banking group BBVA and American Express. BBVA, which is looking for increased brand exposure, signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the league this year. And American Express just returned as a sponsor after a five-year absence.
"The problem is this," said one chief marketing officer for an NBA partner. "It's not so much the money that we spend with the league and on the ads, it's how do you fill the hole in the promotional schedule? I mean, you can give me a make-good, but sometimes there's no real way to make good."
TNT clearly has the programming to fill the void if there is no NBA next season, but sports-centric ESPN would have to scramble. Unlike the NBA lockout in 1999, ESPN no longer has the National Hockey League to fall back on. And, according to a report prepared by analysts from RBC Capital, Disney derives 55% of its revenue from sports, primarily from ESPN.
As with the NFL, the NBA dispute is mostly over money. The NBA, claiming it lost $370 million last year, wants to change entirely a system that currently gives the players 57% of the revenue. The league doesn't open its books, so that revenue loss is disputed by the players union.
"Nobody is anxious to have a lockout or a work stoppage," said Neil Pilson, the former CBS Sports president who now runs his own consultancy, Pilson Communications. "From a cable [network] standpoint, a lockout would be manageable. But then you have a lot of goodwill there that's threatened."
And that goes beyond just the U.S. More than 300 million people play basketball recreationally in China, which has a deep fascination with the NBA and its superstars. Mr. Bryant was treated like a rock star -- some might even say a god -- when he played for the U.S. team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
And what of the sneaker business? The basketball shoe market is a $2.4 billion market. Between the traditional Nike brand and Nike-owned Jordan Brand and Converse, the Swoosh controls 94% market share in basketball shoes. Though it might seem like it, Nike is not an official NBA sponsor.
Nike, through a spokesman, declined to comment. Matt Powell, an analyst with Charlotte, N.C.-based SportsOne Source, said, "Kids are the primary buyers and if kids are still playing ball, it won't have a dramatic impact. But it will have some impact. With no NBA, there's no way for Nike or Reebok to showcase a new guy [in endorsements]."
Story by Rich Thomaselli of www.adage.com
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Halfway through the 2010-11 National Basketball Association season, it's already been one of the finest in league history by almost every metric -- and that's just one more reason why a potential lockout and protracted labor negotiation between the owners and the players will threaten far more than simply the bottom line of a financial statement.
At stake? About $1 billion in TV ad revenue for Walt Disney Co.'s ABC/ESPN and Turner Broadcasting's TNT, the main rights holders for NBA games; sponsors and advertisers that are facing the possibility of a second potential sports-programming platform disappearing; a global stage that Nike (and, to a lesser extent, Reebok) uses to hawk shoes; a huge chunk of the $2.7 billion licensed products market, most of which Adidas makes and sells; and brand equity at a pivotal time for the league, both domestically and internationally.
And don't think it isn't real. Phoenix Suns player Jared Dudley recently tweeted: "If you are in the NBA: I need all NBA players to save there [sic] money. Be prepared to live without a check for at least a year. This is serious."
The NBA is as hot as it's been in years. The buzz began three months before the season even tipped off, when LeBron James announced on live TV last July during "The Decision" that he would be leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. The league reportedly had a record 50,000 new season-ticket requests. The buzz has continued through the first half of the season with the potential for an NBA Finals between Mr. James and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant -- by far the two most marketable players in the league -- as well as the resurgence of big-market teams such as the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls and the emergence of young stars such as Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and John Wall of the Washington Wizards.
Attendance at games is flat, down 1% compared to last year, but TV ratings on ESPN and TNT are up a whopping 30%. Advertisers and sponsors have noticed the resurgent fan interest.
The two sponsors that stand to lose the most are the newest ones -- Spanish banking group BBVA and American Express. BBVA, which is looking for increased brand exposure, signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the league this year. And American Express just returned as a sponsor after a five-year absence.
"The problem is this," said one chief marketing officer for an NBA partner. "It's not so much the money that we spend with the league and on the ads, it's how do you fill the hole in the promotional schedule? I mean, you can give me a make-good, but sometimes there's no real way to make good."
TNT clearly has the programming to fill the void if there is no NBA next season, but sports-centric ESPN would have to scramble. Unlike the NBA lockout in 1999, ESPN no longer has the National Hockey League to fall back on. And, according to a report prepared by analysts from RBC Capital, Disney derives 55% of its revenue from sports, primarily from ESPN.
As with the NFL, the NBA dispute is mostly over money. The NBA, claiming it lost $370 million last year, wants to change entirely a system that currently gives the players 57% of the revenue. The league doesn't open its books, so that revenue loss is disputed by the players union.
"Nobody is anxious to have a lockout or a work stoppage," said Neil Pilson, the former CBS Sports president who now runs his own consultancy, Pilson Communications. "From a cable [network] standpoint, a lockout would be manageable. But then you have a lot of goodwill there that's threatened."
And that goes beyond just the U.S. More than 300 million people play basketball recreationally in China, which has a deep fascination with the NBA and its superstars. Mr. Bryant was treated like a rock star -- some might even say a god -- when he played for the U.S. team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
And what of the sneaker business? The basketball shoe market is a $2.4 billion market. Between the traditional Nike brand and Nike-owned Jordan Brand and Converse, the Swoosh controls 94% market share in basketball shoes. Though it might seem like it, Nike is not an official NBA sponsor.
Nike, through a spokesman, declined to comment. Matt Powell, an analyst with Charlotte, N.C.-based SportsOne Source, said, "Kids are the primary buyers and if kids are still playing ball, it won't have a dramatic impact. But it will have some impact. With no NBA, there's no way for Nike or Reebok to showcase a new guy [in endorsements]."
Story by Rich Thomaselli of www.adage.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Nike Presents iD Nation - A Community For Creative Individuals
Nike 6.0 Presents iD Nation from Nike 6.0 on Vimeo.
Nike Presents iD Nation - a community for creative individuals to get inspired, customize, and make some fans. nike6.com/idnation
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
LEBRON JAMES BY JONATHAN MANNION
In honor of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Championship quest this playoff season. We would live to feature a photo by "The Dean's List" family member Jonathan Mannion. As you can see King James looks focused in this pic. Let's hope he maintains this focus until he is holding up the Larry Obrien trophy at season's end.
NIKE BASKETBALL: LeBRON VII P.S.
Learn about LeBron James' shoe for the 2010 post-season, the LeBron VII P.S.. Nike Basketball designer Jason Petrie describes the shoe - inside and out - and previews some of the other colors of the shoes that are in stores beginning April 17, 2010.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
NIKE BASKETBALL'S 10 BEST TV COMMERCIALS (We listed #6, #2, and #1)
MARVIN GAYE x USA TEAM
BASKETBALL FREESTYLE BEAT
THE SECOND COMING
BASKETBALL FREESTYLE BEAT
THE SECOND COMING
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